P220 Pistol
The P220 Pistol is the backup weapon of the Survivors in Left 4 Dead 2, replacing the M1911 Pistol from Left 4 Dead. It is one of the weapons they can use when knocked down. The Pistol(s) is one of the only weapons that has infinite ammunition. However, they are still limited to a magazine capacity of 15 rounds. Even though they are meant as emergency weapons, Pistols make great secondaries, or even primaries for Grenade Launcher or shotgun users. They pack a punch larger than that of the M16 Assault Rifle, but smaller than the Combat Rifle, and possess better accuracy than most of the Tier 1 weapons. Pistols will usually spawn on the first level of each campaign. This occurs most frequently on Easy and Normal. However, on Advanced and Expert, they are often not available during the first level. Dual-Wielding If a second Pistol is found, it will be a semi-automatic Glock and the two pistols together can be dual-wielded. Second Pistols are placed periodically by the Director but can also be picked up when dropped by a teammate who has taken a Magnum, melee weapon, or has died. Dual pistols double the player's available pistol ammo capacity to 30 rounds and increases the maximum rate of fire from 300 to 600 RPM. The downside of having two Pistols is that it takes slightly longer to reload and the accuracy for both pistols will slightly decrease, but this delay is marginal and does not affect gameplay much. When dual-wielded, like the M1911 Pistol, the left hand Pistol has no light. These pistols are the only weapons in the game that can be dual-wielded. Tactics The single pistol is rarely worthwhile unless you're determined to use a shotgun in the early game or are confident enough in your abilities and the director to give you a second one en-route. Once doubled, the pistols become a viable weapon for a shotgun user to traverse the field with, switching to the scattergun when targets begin to close in. No pistol makes a great fallback weapon when you're empty and surrounded, so it's always better to be leading with the pistol and falling back on primary, not vice-versa. However, the dual pistols are more effective than the Magnum in tight quarters against many Common, and in normal difficulty can drop larger numbers of Horde before reloading. The downside being that they aren't effective against most Specials, so the prospects of blasting a Hunter off someone in a timely fashion are not good unless it's a very clear shot. These pistols rely on rapid, constant, and accurate semi-automatic fire so fatigue or stress can quickly sneak up on an inexperienced user and cause them to be ineffective down the stretch. As the Director ramps up the intensity through the middle levels the pistols also begin to do less and less against increasing Tanks, Chargers, and large swarms of Horde, making them desirable in the early game but less viable later on. In higher difficulties the damage from the Pistols becomes negligible and usage is really only seen amongst dedicated head-shotters that can compensate for the lack of power. Pros and Cons Pros * Can be dual-wielded for increased firepower and magazine size. * When dual-wielded, inflicts higher damage per second than the Magnum (providing the Pistols are fired as fast as possible). * Conserves primary ammo in low-threat environments. * Has a high rate of fire, firing as fast as a player can pull the trigger. * Has a magazine of 15, 30 if dual-wielded, and has infinite ammo. * Has a fast reload. * Deals relatively little friendly fire damage. * When dual-wielded, it can kill most Special Infected quickly. Cons * Can require up to 4 shots to take down a Common Infected on a harder difficulty. * Inflicts very low damage on the Witch. * Much less effective when incapacitated than the Magnum (due to massive accuracy decrease and slowed firing speed). * Melee weapons are often superior to the pistols at close range. * Has a longer reload time if there are less than 2 rounds in the pistol(s). * Has a relatively high recoil, even at medium range. Notes * Upon picking up a melee weapon, Survivors drop their Pistol (if they are dual-wielding, they will drop both Pistols). However, when they are incapacitated, they still pull out a Pistol, and once revived, the Pistol is gone and the melee weapon is still in the secondary slot. While illogical, this is due to the fact that a Survivor downed with no handgun of any kind is a sitting duck, and it would be impossible to defend a teammate reviving them. It is possible that they keep their pistol in its compartment, but don't use it (according to Valve, this is supposed to happen in order to prevent the incapped from being unable to help him/herself). * The P220 Pistol actually does not look at all like the real life SIG Sauer P220 that it claims to be, but it appears to be a composite of SIG Sauer pistols. It has the slide and barrel from a P228 mounted on a P220 frame, with an adjustable rear sight. It also seems to have the safety mechanism from the SAO version of the P220, and it has a custom two-tone finish. * The Glock is based on a composite blend of Glock pistols. The shape of the fore-end of the slide is the shape of some of the subcompact models such as the Glock 26, while the dimensions of the Glock itself have the slide length of a standard frame like a Glock 17 but the grip seems stunted and off a slightly smaller compact model like a Glock 19. * Since the left hand Pistol does not have a flashlight, the Glock is the only shooting weapon to not have a flashlight. * Strangely, if you pick up a P220 Pistol that another Survivor drops when they pick up a melee weapon or a Magnum, it changes to a Glock. In addition, if you pick up a Glock when you have a melee weapon or Magnum, it changes to a P220. * When a Survivor using a melee weapon is downed and pulls out a Pistol, once they are revived, the Pistol quite simply disappears. It is not in the holster, nor present anywhere else on their person. * Also, it's worth noting that, unlike Left 4 Dead, dead Survivor will not drop second pistol after dead. Even more odd is fact that when this Survivor is eventually defibrillated, after revival he/she gets only one pistol instead of both. * When with Dual Pistols, the sounds of the two Sidearms get swapped around (The P220 gets the Glock's firing sound, while the Glock gets the firing sound used by the P220). * The P220 reuses Left 4 Dead's pistol HUD icons, regardless of its different appearance. * In Realism Mode, using a P220 on a Common Infected can cause body deformation. This may be because in real life, a pistol can blast holes in its target. (Also, in the intro for Left 4 Dead, Zoey shoots a Common Infected's head off with her Pistol which cannot be done otherwise, unless an "original" Common Infected, whether Realism or not, is shot.) * If you have one round left in the magazine, or no more rounds left, it will cause the reload time to take more time. If the HUD says two (or more), the reload time will be much faster (It's recommended to have at least two rounds left before reloading). * If you shoot all but one round when dual-wielding the Pistols, and you switch to your primary weapon and back to Pistols, after you cock the guns, the P220 will cock itself back because it has no rounds left. * Even though the P220 appears to be equipped with a laser sight (just below the flashlight), it is never actually used in-game. * In Left 4 Dead 2, the P220 and Magnum Pistol are the only weapons in the game with an "empty reload animation", which means the reload is slightly longer if reloading from an empty magazine. * While incapacitated, if you hold melee while shooting, your gunshots are apparently silenced and do double damage. This is a bug which has yet to be fixed. **This also works for for the M1911 Pistol in the Xbox 360 version of Left 4 Dead. *In the beta version of Left 4 Dead 2, the P220 had a lighter color scheme. **Also in beta, it reuses the same reloading animation as Left 4 Dead. *When firing with two pistols with sv_infinite_ammo enabled, one pistol will play the recoil animation while the other one will have a muzzle flash. Which pistol does the animation depends on the last pistol that was fired before sv_infinite_ammo was enabled. Gallery Glock 2.png|The Glock's ground model. Pistol_2.png|Coach holding the P220. L4D2 Dual Pistols reload.jpg|Dual pistols reloading External Links #Pistol in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4haHUxqjCQ #Dual pistols in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHwCSiRLbJs&